Dollase doing a rain dance

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Craig Dollase is one of the few people rooting for rain this weekend. In 1997, Dollase won his first stakes when Tower Full scored in the Vernon Underwood on an off track.

The Underwood is run Sunday and Dollase plans to start Beaumes de Venise, who won on a sloppy track at Santa Anita in March 2000. Due to injuries, the 5-year-old Beaumes de Venise has made just eight starts, but has won five races. The Grade 3 Underwood, run over six furlongs, will be his graded stakes debut.

Beaumes de Venise has made two starts this year, winning an allowance race at Del Mar on Aug. 9 and finishing fourth as a heavy favorite in the Aprisa Handicap at Fairplex Park on Sept. 12.

"I thought I was being smart, but he didn't like the turns," Dollase said of Beaumes de Venise's race in the Aprisa. "I've freshened him well since then."

The Underwood field is expected to include defending champion Men's Exclusive, Forest Camp, Lake William, and Very Caerleon.

Spain slated for Santa Anita

Spain, second in the Breeders' Cup Distaff and then fifth in the Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 22, won't run again until next year, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.

She may run in the $200,000 Santa Monica Handicap over seven furlongs on Jan. 26 or the $200,000 Santa Maria Handicap over

1 1/16 miles on Feb. 17. Both races are Grade 1. The 4-year-old Spain is stabled at Lukas's winter base at Santa Anita.

Lukas said that Yonaguska, the winner of the Fall Highweight Handicap at Aqueduct on Nov. 22, remains on target for the Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

Lexicon heading to stud

Lexicon, last of 10 in the Hollywood Turf Express on Nov. 23, has made his final start.

Scheduled to go to stud next year in Florida, Lexicon will ship to Meadowbrook Farm in Ocala when a flight can be arranged, trainer Richard Mandella said.

"He's got a few aches and pains that caught up with him," Mandella said. A 6-year-old, Lexicon won 11 of 37 starts and $820,965. His career highlights include a win in the Grade 2 Ancient Title Breeders' Cup Handicap in 1999 and victories in the last two runnings of the Grade 3 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Handicap.

More pick fours

Calder and Hollywood Park, both owned by Churchill Downs Inc., will offer a common pick 4 on Saturday and on Dec. 15.

The $1 pick 4 will cover the 11th and 12th races at Calder and the fifth and sixth races at Hollywood. The bet will be known as the CDSN Coast-to-Coast Pick 4. The Calder races will have an approximate post time of 4:45 p.m. and 5:11 p.m. Eastern, and the Hollywood Park races will be run at 5:35 p.m. and 6:07 p.m.

The races from Calder will be stakes. On Saturday, the bet will include the Mecke Stakes and Hollywood Wildcat Stakes there. On Dec. 15, the Frances A. Genter Stakes and Kenny Noe Jr. Handicap will be part of the pick 4.

Fonz's staying put

Fonz's, the winner of the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue Stakes on Nov. 17, will remain in trainer David LaCroix's stable for the $200,000 Hollywood Futurity on Dec. 15.

"I forgot how much fun it is to have a stakes horse in my barn," said La Croix, who frequently sells the 2-year-olds out of his barn. "I think I'm going to mess around with him. If he proves himself going two turns in the Futurity, I think he'll become a legitimate Derby contender."

LaCroix co-owns Fonz's with Gene Anderson. La Croix said that Laffit Pincay Jr., has been booked to ride Fonz's in the 1 1/16-mile Futurity.

The seven-furlong Prevue was Fonz's first start since May, a layoff caused by tender shins.

Playing through pain

Even when he's suffering from pain caused by a pulled tooth, Pincay can be tough to beat. On Wednesday, he won the fifth race on Shining Britely with his lower left jaw packed with cotton. "It's uncomfortable, but I can ride," he said.

Through Wednesday, Pincay was tied for second in the jockeys' standings with Kent Desormeaux with 13 wins, three behind Alex Solis.

Mabee resigns as Del Mar chair

Prominent California owner and breeder John Mabee is relinquishing his role as the chairman of the board of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club at the end of the year, the association announced on Thursday.

The track did not name a successor for the chairmanship. Mabee will be named director emeritus at the start of the year.

Mabee, 80, was a founding member of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which began operating the racetrack and summer meeting in 1970. He was named president in 1978 and became chairman in 1990. In the last two seasons, Mabee has kept a low profile at race meetings after suffering a stroke in the spring of 2000.